DIGGING DEEPER TOGETHER

The Missing Gift

As each year passed at Christmas time in our family and the prices of gifts grew, we decided to draw names and purchase a gift or two for just one person. This ended up saving us a lot of money, kept us out of the Christmas shopping rush, and, perhaps most importantly, kept us from putting a wrong emphasis on the season.

The six of us gathered together to draw the names. We all had our assigned person and were off and running to pick up some gifts. Christmas rolled around and I, being the youngest, had the job of giving out the presents from under the tree to each member of my family.

As I started to divide the gifts up, there was a consistent theme. My oldest brother, Matt, was receiving a whole lot of gifts, while my brother Doug, suspiciously, had none. As I kept pulling gifts, I began to hope Doug may at least get one gift on Christmas. He didn’t get even one! There had been a mistake! Two of us had thought we had Matt, when one of us had Doug. This became the memorable Christmas that broke more hearts than Doug’s.

On Christmas, there may be some of us who feel like the gift of salvation is not for us. We may feel like everyone around us seems caught up in Jesus and celebrating. We may think there is no way that the God who created all things would look at my heart and offer me forgiveness for my sins. I’ve just messed up too often. Christmas may very well feel like a Christmas morning where we sit and receive no gifts at all. But, there could be nothing further from the truth. He wants you to know that His love is greater than any obstacle you can imagine. Simply reach out to Him. His love is there for you right now.

The Bible tells us that Jesus came that we may have life and have it to the fullest. He says, that all of us who are thirsty for more in our life need to simply come to Him. He will give us that which will satisfy. What He is offering us is a personal relationship with Him. We can experience forgiveness and sense everything is right inside, when we come to Him. When we do that, we have received the greatest gift that is available for all of us. The gift of salvation that is only found in him. He can be your light in the darkness. All you need to do is reach out to Him and He will respond to your act of faith in believing that He is there.